Around 10% of cell-sites of telcos in India are connected by fiber. Overtime, telcos expect it to increase to 20-25% but not beyond that. Operators like Bharti/Vodafone are focusing on carrier aggregation to enhance their data networks and improve quality in circles where they have 900 & 2100 MHz or 2 bands of 900 or 2100 MHz.
Top 3 telcos are largely done with their 2G coverage investments and in 3G, the focus is more on loading and improving capacity utilization. Telco managements? stated us that they do not want to front end load the capex as it may not generate immediate returns.
Given low 3G capacity utilization (below 50%) and minuscule 4G smartphone penetration (c. 2%), we do not expect telcos to even invest in 4G or fiber in next 12-18 months.
